Stopped here on our Spring Break 2013 California-Oregon Road Trip. I had read the good reviews, but had only tried Racer 5 in a bottle, which I found to be good, but not my favorite IPA. This experience (and Apex) changed my mind. I have a newfound respect for Bear Republic. They do it right. Also: Dogs allowed in the back area!

Atmosphere - Excellent. Comfortable indoor/outdoor seating. Friendly people (servers and guests alike). We enjoyed being here. It was relaxed and friendly.

Quality - Excellent. Beer especially. Racer 5 is a solid IPA, but I think Apex is a fantastic and extra-special Double IPA. A must-try, if you like that style of beer. I tried a few more, but I'm stuck in my ways...my girlfriend enjoyed the different beers she tried.

Service - Our service was excellent. The bartender was knowledgeable, helpful, professional, and friendly. He made good recommendations and seemed to be happy doing his job. We sat out back and the service back there was good as well.

Selection - Good. Plenty of different beers and food to choose from.

Food - Solid bar food (tough food competition in wine country). We had Calamari and a salad. It tasted fresh and delicious to me.

Value - The prices were excellent for a high-quality product in a very expensive area.

Summary - We will definitely come back here. Food, service, beer, and all else was of high quality. We thoroughly enjoyed Apex and wish Bear Republic would bottle it. A delicious brew.

Location - Healdsburg tiptoes the line between being a bit snobby and just being a great place to be - it's clean, safe, friendly, and easy on the eyes. It's 'boutiquey' as one reviewer mentioned, but overall, a pleasant place to be.

A few tips: The Wurst Sausage Grill right off the square (and just a few minutes walking distance from Bear Republic) has fantastic food and serves Racer 5. We mostly drank at Bear Republic and ate over at the Wurst. Also, you can get a fantastic deal on weekdays at the Best Western Plus Dry Creek Inn which is about a 15-minute walk from the square, Bear Republic, and the Wurst. Don't drink and drive, fool!

I have now visited Bear Republic twice with my wife, and we enjoyed it both times. The decor is nice - you can see the brewing operation as the mash tun and brew kettle are just to left of the bar, and different tanks can be seen through the glass behind the bar. The food selection is nice - great bar food. One our first visit I had the Black and Blue Burger, a burger with blue cheese, bacon and avocado. This goes great with a fresh Racer 5 - Yum! My wife had the Cobb Salad, which she also enjoyed. They also make great fries, onion rings and a garlic appetizer you should not miss.

Their beer selection is very good - There are always 12 to 14 of their beers on hand, including some specials. On our first visit in January 2010, they had the BRBC tripel on tap. When we returned in February, it was the Five Zero. (I still haven't had the elusive Racer X).

The staff is very friendly and attentive. If you are ever in the bay area, be sure to visit Healdsburg and Bear Republic.

Got here mid afternoon on a Monday. It was quiet, but the bar was almost full. Decent size eating area, with some outdoor options as well. Decided to stay in the A/C.

Server was very friendly and very knowledgable. You can either get a flute of their house ales, or their specials. I have had most of their house ales, so I was more interested in their specials. Most of the beers were very good. El Oso was the only one I didn't particularly care for, but even then it was still better than average. I got the burger with the anaheim chile, and it was fabulous. My dad got the mac 'n cheese, and it was positively decadent to say the least. A little rich, and unless you're set on inducing a heart attack, you'd be better off sharing it with someone. Food was a touch pricey, but Healdsburg is a pretty posh area.

Service got a 5.0, and it was deserved. Upon learning that I was from southern california, and up here on beer travels, our server went to the bartender to ask for a sample of Racer 5--all unbeknownst to me--cause he claimed it was different and better out of the serving tank. The bartender asked who it was for, and upon hearing my story from my server, he pulled an entire free pint for me. Very cool and unexpected. Almost made me feel like royalty!

Maybe if I was the type to split hairs over octopus or squid, I would have been able to find something else to complain about. Fortunately I'm a pretty easy going guy, and it seems to rub off on other people. This place is great!

Bear Republic is the best brewpub I have ever been to....beer wise. The beer is absolutely first rate; kegged, cask, or bottled. Great looking place deep in the heart of wine country with a nice outdoor (heated) seating area. 11 on tap (aprox), with the highlights being the Racer 10, Hop Rod, and a Hefe. Exceptional! They might be brewing the best beer in America right now.
Unfortunately I didn't like the food. This is the problem with reviewing a place after visting it only once. This would probably be a 5 in my book but I just happened to get a bad order of fries. Totally overspiced, it was probably just a one time mistake, but I
can only rate on what happened.
Rumor has it they will be available in NY shortly, and I can't wait!

In our travels around Sonoma County wine tasting we stopped at a restaurant in Bodega Bay for a very late dinner, where they were serving a beer called Racer 5. It was an IPA I had never had to so I decided to give it a shot, and it was fantastic. I made a note of it and moved on.

Later on while wine tasting in Sonoma county we stopped in a one of the bigger cities we could find, Healdsburg, for lunch. We walked in to this place place and discovered they were the brewer of this Racer 5 IPA I had the night before. Being barely in the mood to drink after all the wine, it took me a minute to warm up to the idea of tasting some new beers, but I got around to ordering A Hop Rod Rye (to compare to my hometown favorite, Terrapin Rye), Red Rocket, and Racer X ( a double of Racer 5), all of which were fantastic. The atmosphere is awesome, with the brewing operation literally going on inside the restaurant all around you (The bags of barley aren't just decoration). If you end up in Sonoma County, check it out. Better atmosphere than Russian River's brewpub, though the beers at RR might have one up on them.

Wow, we were up in Santa Rosa for the Russian River Brewing Company's 5 year birthday and we decided the next day to travel a little further north to try this place out. So glad we did. We were sat outdoors on a wonderful day although I did go inside to see what it was all about. Great little bar inside but plenty area for family dining. The manager whose name I forgot already was delightful and very friendly. The entire staff was pretty much the same and all very knowlegdable on the beer. Of the 16 taps they had, I would say 12 of them were unique beers not available in bottles in most areas. The beers were all phenomenal. Then came the food and wow, it was so very very delicious. This place is just plain awesome and I can't wait to be in Norcal again as I will certainly stop by the establishment everytime.

Stop 2 (after Moylan's) on a Russian River Valley pubcrawl 7/18/2011. Bear Republic is consistently one of my favorites with Hop Rod Rye, Racer #5, and Big Bear Stout and I was very excited to see the point of origin. About evenly balanced between indoor and outdoor seating and we choose to sit inside at the bar. Bartendress was about as good as they get and seemed to anticipate our needs very well. You could see into the brewery behind windows and we noted an employee totally working his ass off - if you ever come to Texas you're hired dude. Decent selection of their regular and special beers but the waitress apologized that the last keg of Cafe Racer 15 was kicked the previous day. Right before we left though, working-his-ass-off-dude wheeled out a fresh keg and our waitress went out of her way to make sure we got a free sample. We had the wings during our visit and they were fantastic. Overall a very enjoyable visit. Incidentally, we stopped for coffee at Flying Goat before leaving town and I've gotta say it was the best cappuccino I've ever had. The barista was a true maestro!

One of my favorite stops on the west coast. Fantastic beers and great food. I could drink the racer 5 everyday no problemo. The brew pub is really nice, right downtown in Healdsburg. They had growlers to go in rubber bladders when I was there last. Finally getting this good stuff in Florida.

A nice brewpub kind of off the main street. A friendly atmosphere with beer knowlegable staff and regulars. Lots of antique paraphenalia including bikes and flags hanging from the ceiling. Some racing paraphenalia on the walls that has a vehicle with a number 5 on it. Lots of Bear Republic stuff for sale. Nice painting on one side of the walls. There is a beer patio outside facing a park like walkway. Some people on motorcycles drove right up close to the back patio.

All stainless steel nozzles with at least one that was brass. Nice copper plated bar with wood siding. Metal stools with cushioned seats and wood tables and chairs. Did not see the kitchen and the restroom was clean.

Service was prompt and knowledgable, befriend your bartender.

Very good selection of their own beers and one cask option, that was empty today. Notables (not in any particular order) were Racer 5, Black, Racer X, Hop Rod Rye, Pete's Tribute, Porter, and XP also some including Red Rocket were out. Did not care for the Mexican Lagers.

After a disappointing trip to North Coast Brewing's restaurant, Bear Republic was a nice change. The bill was $15 less, the food was better, the beer selections better, and the service was way better. This place has a nice outdoor seating area, inside is kinda dark and ugly though. Waitress was great, even offered us tastings of beer to help us decide what we wanted. Pints are reasonably priced as is food. Lots of interesting beer styles on tap (15+) so there's something for everyone. Sandwiches are great. Definitely will hit this place up next time I'm in the area.

Hit this place and Russian River on the same day and was pleasantly surprised to enjoy Bear Republic a lot more.

It's right in the middle of a very touristy spot, so definitely consider an off-peak time to visit if tourists drive you nuts. We didn't have any problems, though. As soon as we sat down at the bar, we were made to feel right at home by locals and staff alike. Our bartender (can't remember his name) was top-notch. Once he found out we were from Portland, he was anxious to swap beer stories. Very friendly guy and exceedingly knowledgeable about their beers.

Although we sat at the bar, we noted plentiful indoor and outdoor seating as well. It's roomy without being cavernous.

Pretty extensive assortment of high-quality brews. We ran through a couple of sampler trays and everything was good to excellent for the most part. Good pub food, too.

Stopped in around noon on a Wednesday. We sat at the bar, the place was not very crowded at this time. The guy behind the bar was nice enough and poured us a couple sampler sets. They had 13 beers on tap which more than surprised me... I was expecting maybe like 6 or 7, but I didn't know they brewed so many other special beers here. We didn't have any food, just finished our tasters, ordered a pint of our favorite, and then left. Nice place to hang out in overall. If I lived within 20 miles of Bear Republic I would drive there often.